The really long day

Now we come to an account of what sounds like one of the most awesome (in terms of leaving one awestruck) battles ever. This is the battle of Gibeon.

The Gibeonites were actually Hivites/Amorites, or Canaanite people whom Israel was told to conquer and kill. This was because the Canaanites had engaged in many practices that were abhorrent to the God of Israel. In fact, the Canaanites had engaged in practices that many people today would still find abhorrent: incest, child sacrifice, and bestiality (Deuteronomy 20:17-18; Leviticus 18). But, through trickery, the story goes that Gibeon managed to ally with Israel by passing themselves off as a people from a distant land who (due to distance) would be unlikely to lead Israel astray from the Law of God.

In the end, the alliance of Gibeon with the Israelites did not go over well with the other Canaanite people. So the surrounding Canaanites waged war on Gibeon. Israel honored their new alliance and came to the aid of Gibeon--this was the story of the battle of Gibeon, or as titled above, the battle of the really long day.

So how well is the battle of Gibeon contextually supported in Scripture?


Old Testament References to Gibeon and Aijalon:

• References to Gibeon:
• Joshua 9:3-15, "When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they also acted craftily and set out as envoys, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins worn-out and torn and mended, and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled. They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, 'We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us . . .' So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the LORD. Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them." 
• Gibeon - portrayed as a historical Canaanite city
• How could a fictional Gibeon have "heard" about the conquests of Jericho and Ai?
• How could fictional Gibeonites send envoys to the real Israelites?
• Why would the Jewish writers note how their people were tricked by fictional Gibeonites?
• Why would the Jewish writers note an unwanted alliance with the very Canaanites Israel was told to conquer, unless that really happened?
• Why else record how Israel failed to seek God's counsel about Gibeon when the whole storyline was that Israel was led by God to conquer Canaan?
• Joshua 10:6-14, "Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, saying, 'Do not abandon your servants; come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites that live in the hill country have assembled against us.' So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and all the valiant warriors. The LORD said to Joshua, 'Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; not one of them shall stand before you.' So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal. And the LORD confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword. Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
              'O sun, stand still at Gibeon,
              And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.'
        So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
              Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies.
              Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel."
• Gibeon - portrayed as a historical Canaanite city
• Why else write of how Israel fought for the Canaanite Gibeonites? How would this improve the whole conquest story?
• Why name a fictional city in a passage with detailed geographical context?
• Why would a real God speak to Joshua about coming to the aid of a fictional Gibeon?
• Why would a fictional city figure in a battle clearly credited to a real God? How would this really give God credit?
• II Samuel 21:1-2,"Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the LORD. And the LORD said, 'It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.' So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the sons of Israel made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah)."
• Gibeon - portrayed as a historical Canaanite city
• How else could Israel have had a covenant with Gibeon?
• Why else write how a real God said He was holding Israel to their covenant with the Gibeonites?
• Why else would the Jewish writers criticize the zeal of King Saul for his own people?

• References to Aijalon:
• Joshua 21:20-26, "Then the cities from the tribe of Ephraim were allotted to the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, even to the rest of the sons of Kohath. They gave them Shechem, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands, and Kibzaim with its pasture lands and Beth-horon with its pasture lands; four cities. From the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; four cities."
• Aijalon - portrayed as a historical city in Canaan
• Why else place Aijalon in the territory of the real tribe of Dan?
• Why else name "Aijalon with its pasture lands" as a possession given to real families from the sons of Levi? How could the sons of Levi live a fictional city?
• Why associate a fictional Aijalon with the real, historical city of Shechem?
• I Chronicles 6:1, 66-70, "The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath and Merari . . . Now some of the families of the sons of Kohath had cities of their territory from the tribe of Ephraim. They gave to them the following cities of refuge: Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim with its pasture lands, Gezer also with its pasture lands, Jokmeam with its pasture lands, Beth-horon with its pasture lands, Aijalon with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; and from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Aner with its pasture lands and Bileam with its pasture lands, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath."
• Aijalon - portrayed as a historical city in Canaan
• Why associate a fictional Aijalon with the real, historical city of Shechem?
• Why else again assert in the chronicles of the Israelite kings that Aijalon had been given to the sons of Levi, again specifically to the families of Kohath?
• Why else again name Aijalon in context with the same cities of Shechem, Gezer, Beth-horon, and Gath-rimmon?
• II Chronicles 11:5-12, "Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built cities for defense in Judah. Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin. He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and stores of food, oil and wine. He put shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin."
• Aijalon - portrayed as a historical city in Canaan
• Why else place Aijalon in the context of the historical cities of Bethlehem, Gath, and Hebron?
• Why include a fictional Aijalon in a detailed record of defensive fortifications?
• How would a fictional Aijalon help defend the real tribes of Judah and Benjamin?
• II Chronicles 28:16-18, "At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria for help. For again the Edomites had come and attacked Judah and carried away captives. The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland and of the Negev of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Soco with its villages, and they settled there. For the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had brought about a lack of restraint in Judah and was very unfaithful to the LORD. So Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. Although Ahaz took a portion out of the house of the LORD and out of the palace of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him."
• Aijalon - portrayed a historical city in Canaan
• Why record a humiliating plea for help to Assyria unless this really happened because Israel was in dire straits from Philistine conquest of cities like Aijalon?
• Why else name Aijalon in a passage with such ethno-geographical context?
• Why else name Aijalon in the chronicles of the Israelite kings?
• Why would Jewish writers name a fictional Aijalon in context with a specific, historical Assyrian king?

• Context for the unparalleled long day:
• Joshua 10:12, "Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
              'O sun, stand still at Gibeon,
              And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.'
        So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
              Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies.
              Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel."
• Talking about sunrise/sunset type terms here, not geocentricism.
• [This is not a case of time standing still, since the writers note that the sun "did not go down for about a whole day". Measurement of time like this would not have been possible if time had stopped. Further, Israel continued pursuing and killing their enemies, showing that neither their persons nor their weapons fell into suspended animation, as one would expect if time had stopped in the physical world.]
• [Since there was "no day like that before it or after it", the day could not have been just another day where a man (here Joshua) waxed poetic in a prayer to God for aid. Scripture repeats itself here in Joshua to affirm that Joshua's prayer was indeed answered. The second affirmation takes a different descriptive angle (common in Scripture), reading: "And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for a about a whole day". If the sun appeared to stop in the middle of the sky, that's exactly what Joshua asked, as that would be overhead of Gibeon in whose vicinity they fought.]
• Why record how Joshua specifically asked for the sun to remain over real Gibeon, unless it really did visibly remain in the sky above Gibeon?
• Why record how Joshua specifically asked for the moon to remain over real Aijalon, unless it really did visibly remain in the sky above Aijalon?
• II Chronicles 1:2-7, "Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households. Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place which was at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness . . . Now the bronze altar, which Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the LORD, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out. Solomon went up there before the LORD to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it. In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, 'Ask what I shall give you.'"
• What was so special about Gibeon that God's tent of meeting was placed there?
• Gibeon wasn't specified by God as the city for His tabernacle or temple.
• Gibeon wasn't a city of refuge (Joshua 20).
• Gibeon wasn't where Joshua was buried (Judges 2:9)
• Gibeon wasn't a place where Samuel (I Sam. 3:19-21; I Sam. 7:15-17) or any of the other judges judged (see Judges).
• Gibeon wasn't the hometown of either King Saul or David (I Sam. 11:4; I Sam. 16:1)
• Gibeon was a somewhat central city in Israel, but why for that reason alone overlook the embarrassing heritage of Gibeon for Israel (as the people who tricked them)?
• The only special thing about Gibeon appears to be the battle of Gibeon. If so, was not the outstanding event at that battle (which would put Gibeon on the map) the story of the sun remaining over Gibeon?
• Habakkuk 3:1-13, "A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.
        LORD, I have heard the report about You and I fear.
              O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years,
              In the midst of the years make it known;
              In wrath remember mercy.
        God comes from Teman [Edom (Jer. 49:7), S. of Canaan],
              And the Holy One from Mount Paran [Seir/Edom (Deut. 33:2; Jos. 24:4)]
  
  Selah.
        His splendor covers the heavens,
              And the earth is full of His praise.
        His radiance is like the sunlight;
              He has rays flashing from His hand,
              And there is the hiding of His power [see Deut. 33:2].
        Before Him goes pestilence,
              And plague comes after Him [on Egypt & later Israel?].
        He stood and surveyed the earth;
              He looked and startled the nations [Egypt & Canaan?].
              Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered,
              The ancient hills collapsed.
              His ways are everlasting.
        I saw the tents of Cushan under distress,
              The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling [Num 22:1-7?] . . .
       The mountains saw You and quaked [Ex. 19:18?];
              The downpour of waters swept by [Ex. 9:33?].
              The deep uttered forth its voice,
              It lifted high its hands [Ex. 14:21-22?].
       Sun and moon stood in their places [only parallel in Jos. 10];
              They went away at the light of Your arrows,
              At the radiance of Your gleaming spear.
        In indignation You marched through the earth;
              In anger You trampled the nations.
        You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
              For the salvation of Your anointed.
              You struck the head of the house of the evil
              To lay him open from thigh to neck [Canaan conquest?]."
  

Under the watch of a HOLY God (Part II.b)

Defeat is a hard experience. Israel as a whole faced defeat before Ai with Achan's disobedience. It was trying time indeed. But was God still sovereign? Why, you ask, would the God of Isreal allow His people to experience such pain?

Return the question to yourself. What child, although dearly loved and cared for by their parents, lives a life free from pain? Do not children exercise choice in their activities, even choices that may lead to pain? Well, are we kept devoid of choice before God? Surely not. Therefore, pain is something we face . . . ever since the choice Adam and Eve made. Nevertheless, God is sovereign during all times. Israel served a Holy God who gave them real choices with real consequences. Yet, as Israel saw at the 2nd Battle of Ai, this Holy God remained sovereign. The battle was not won by Israel's might or morale (they lost the first time). No, the battle was won by God's hand.

"God of the Hills and Valleys" by Tauren Wells

Facts, Traditions, and Widespread Beliefs regarding the Valley of Achor and Ai: (continued)

• Geographical City of Ai:
• Genesis 12:7-9, "So he [Abram] built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD."
• Joshua 7:2-5, "Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, 'Go up and spy out the land.' So the men went up and spied out Ai. They returned to Joshua and said to him, 'Do not let all the people go up; only about two or three thousand men need go up to Ai; do not make all the people toil up there, for they are few.' So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they fled from the men of Ai. The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent, so the hearts of the people melted and became as water."
• Ezra 2:1-29, "Now these are the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city . . . the sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah and Beeroth, 743; the sons of Ramah and Geba, 621; the men of Michmas, 122; the men of Bethel and Ai, 223 . . ."
• Ai lay above Jericho in altitude (Joshua 7:2-5)
• Ai lay close to Beth-aven and just east of Bethel (Gen. 12:7-9; Joshua 7:2-5)
• A mountain lay between Bethel and Abram's Ai (Gen. 12:7-9)
• Ai was walled with a city gate (Joshua 7:2-5)
• Ai apparently lay west of a place called Shebarim (assuming the men of Israel fled back eastward to camp at Gilgal--see following passages), which was close to a descending slope (Joshua 7:2-5)
• Ai was repopulated by Israelites sometime after Joshua's conquest and prior to Babylonian captivity (Ezra 2:1-29)
• Joshua 8:10-29, "he [Joshua] went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai. Then all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near and arrived in front of the city, and camped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai. And he took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city . . . and Joshua spent that night in the midst of the valley. It came about when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose up early and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place before the desert plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness . . . When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and slew the men of Ai. The others came out from the city to encounter them, so that they were trapped in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side; and they slew them until no one was left of those who survived or escaped . . . All who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000—all the people of Ai . . . Israel took only the cattle and the spoil of that city as plunder for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua. So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap . . ."
• A large valley lay on the north side of Ai.
• The valley north of Ai led to a desert plain.
• Concealing terrain lay on the west of Ai.
• Cattle were taken alive from Ai.
• The ruins of Ai were plundered.
• Ai's city gate was on the north side.
• Ai was burned.
• Both men and women lived at Ai
• Encyclopaedia Britannica - Modern archaeology associates ancient Ai with et-Tell. But those ruins appear to only be from before and after Israelite conquest. Thus many archaeologists assume that Ai was identified by the Israelites with Bethel, placing Bethel-Ai at Beitin 1.5 miles west of et-Tell. This does not cohere with Joshua identifying Ai to lie east of Bethel).
• Dr. David Livingston - considers the Biblical account to be historical and favors Khirbet Nisya (Kh. Nisya) as site of ancient Ai:
• Kh. Nisya was ~5 acres in size, compared to the 11 acre size of "greater" Gibeon (Joshua 10:2)
• Kh. Nisya appears to be a reasonable topographical fit for Joshua's Ai.
• Kh. Nisya also reveals evidence of Israelite resettlement just prior and immediately after the Babylonian Captivity, which Bryant Wood's Kh. el- Maqatir does not show thus far. Upcoming website on Kh. Nisya dig site: "Ai Archaeological Park"
• However, Kh. Nisya shows no sign of walls and a gate at time of Joshua
• Dr. Livingston originally placed Beth-aven at Beitin, but now places Beth-aven at Kh. el-Maqatir. This would still hardly make Ai (if Ai was at Kh. Nisya) close to Beth-aven compared to Bethel (at el-Bireh), as mapped below. So, placement of Beth-aven at Kh. el-Maqatir and Ai at Kh. Nisya does not seem to fit the description in Joshua 7:2
• Also, Dr. Livingston does not mention evidence of Kh. Nisya having been burned.



Region of et-Tell, Kh. Nisya, and Kh. el-Maqatir (Biblicalarcheology.org).
Land elevation can be checked by clicking on terrain on elevationmap.net maps.

• Dr. Bryant Wood - places Ai at Khirbet el-Maqatir. The Bryant Wood team has found:
• Remains of a gate facing north at this site

Gate Socket Stones at Kh. el-Maqatir (Answers in Genesis)

• Pottery from the time of Joshua
• A prominent hill north of Kh. Maqatir called Jebel Abu Ammar (appears to rise to ~908 m on the elevationmap.net map) that is comparable in elevation to Mt. Gerizim, also in Canaan, which rises to 881 m above sea level.
• A concealing valley on the west of Kh. el-Maqatir called Wadi Sheban
• Signs of conflagration
• A shallow valley north of Ai called Wadi el-Gayeh/Wadi al-Jayah
• Kh. el-Maqatir is just 1 mile southeast of Beitin/Baytin, making Beitin a good candidate for Beth-aven
• El-Bireh, considered the best candidate for Bethel, is slightly further away but still nearby at 2 miles southwest of Kh. el-Maqatir.
• Kh. el-Maqatir was just ~7 acres in size during the time of Joshua, comparing well to greater Gibeon (Joshua 10:2)

Infant burial jar found at Kh. el-Maqatir (Biblearchaeology.org)

• Infant burial jar found at Kh. el-Maqatir affirms that both men and women were living there.
• Kh. el-Maqatir remained a desolate ruin after destruction by fire in the time of Joshua.
• This site fits the Joshua account well. The mountain between Ai and Bethel noted in Genesis may be explained by an earlier Ai ("Getting Archaeology Right at Ai", Footnote 2) being located at et-Tell. This would leave the sites of either Baytin/Beitin or Kh. el-Maqatir as the mountain Abram stood on with Ai on the east and Bethel on the west.

Under the watch of a HOLY God (Part II)

Now what is the non-textual evidence for the Valley of Achor and Israelite conquest of Ai?

This post was sadly delayed due to Blogger crashing and subsequent need to do a bit of re-writing and re-researching. But with that extra work I do now have extra information on the Valley of Achor. This requires splitting up the original post into at least two parts. Examination of evidence for Ai will be in the second part. I'd better post what I have about Achor forthwith to avoid another crash.


Facts, Traditions, and Widespread Beliefs regarding the Valley of Achor and Ai:

• Geographical Valley of Achor:
• Joshua 7:24-26, "Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor. Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.” And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. They raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day, and the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the valley of Achor to this day."
• The valley of Achor lay in hill country
• One should look for reference or sign of a stone heap (not yet discovered to my knowledge)
• The modern name of the valley should relate to the original name of Achor
• Achor - Hebrew for "disturbance" or "trouble"
• Jerusalem.com - The Prat River running along the Wadi Kelt is considered the River Perath named in Jeremiah 13:3-5. Among the springs supplying the River Perath, the Spring of Ein Kelt is associated with the River Kerith belonging to the Kerith Ravine named in 1 Kings 17:3.
• Strong's Concordance - "Perath" in Jeremiah 13:3-5 is also translated as the "Euphrates". The word derives from a root meaning "to break forth" or "rushing"
• Strong's Concordance - "Kerith" in I Kings 17:3 derives from "karath" which means "to cut off" or "cut down".
• Joshua 15:1, 5-8, "Now the lot for the tribe of the sons of Judah according to their families . . . And the border of the north side was from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan. Then the border went up to Beth-hoglah, and continued on the north of Beth-arabah, and the border went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. The border went up to Debir from the valley of Achor, and turned northward toward Gilgal which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south of the valley; and the border continued to the waters of En-shemesh and it ended at En-rogel. Then the border went up the valley of Ben-hinnom to the slope of the Jebusite on the south (that is, Jerusalem) . . ."

Modern walk from Ein Hajla Spring to Gey Ben Hinom St, Jerusalem. This is the region of Joshua's Judah-Benjamin border, on which the Valley of Achor lay, just south or southwest of Jericho.

• Travel Palestine - The name of Beth Hoglah in Joshua 15 is retained by the modern day Ain Hajla Spring.
• Wikipedia - The modern West Bank settlement of Beit HaAravah is named after the town of Beth Aravah named in Joshua 15, whose general location it shares on the Aravah/Arabah plain. In the 1930s-1940s, Jewish settlers began cultivating the soil of Beit HaAravah (after washing out the salt), making it known for its produce of vegetables and fruit throughout the country (see Hosea 2 verses below).
• Joshua 15 implies that the stone of Bohan lay in the Valley of Achor. Therefore the Valley of Achor lay "above" (likely in altitude) and North-west of Beth-arabah, since the northern boundary of Judah was being described from east to west in Joshua 15. North-west of modern day Beit HaAravah lie Aqabat Jabr and the east entrance to the Wadi Kelt valley.
• Joshua 18:11-20, "Now the lot of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot lay between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph. Their border on the north side was from the Jordan, then the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill country westward, and it ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven. From there the border continued to Luz, to the side of Luz (that is, Bethel) southward . . . The border extended from there and turned round on the west side southward . . . Then the south side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went westward and went to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah. The border went down to the edge of the hill which is in the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is in the valley of Rephaim northward; and it went down to the valley of Hinnom, to the slope of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En-rogel. It extended northward and went to En-shemesh and went to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. It continued to the side in front of the Arabah northward and went down to the Arabah. The border continued to the side of Beth-hoglah northward; and the border ended at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the south border. Moreover, the Jordan was its border on the east side."
• It is clear that Judah's northern border shared much of Benjamin's southern border.
• Therefore, the Valley of Achor (Joshua 15) lay on the southern side of Benjamin.
• Jericho lay on the northern border of Benjamin.
• Therefore, the Valley of Achor lay south (or south-west) of Jericho.
• Shalom Israel Tours - The Jewish Mitzpe Jericho ("Jericho Lookout") community of 450 families has a clear view of Jericho from the southeast mountains. This community is adjacent to the Wadi Kelt/Nachal Prat nature reserve.

View from Mitzpe Jericho of the Jericho plain (Shalom Israel Tours)

• Isaiah 65:9-10, "'I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
              And an heir of My mountains from Judah;
              Even My chosen ones shall inherit it,
              And My servants will dwell there.
        'Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks,
              And the valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
              For My people who seek Me.'"
  
• Hosea 2:14-15, "'Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
              Bring her into the wilderness
              And speak kindly to her.
        'Then I will give her her vineyards from there,
              And the valley of Achor as a door of hope.
              And she will sing there as in the days of her youth,
              As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.'"
• The Shalom Israel Tours link above already mentioned Israelite settlement in the vicinity of Wadi Kelt (as suggested by Isaiah's "for My people")
• Look for a roadway in the Vally of Achor (Hosea's "door of hope")

Shepherd in the vicinity of the Wadi Kelt (Israel Tour Guide)

• Israel Tour Guide - The Wadi ("valley") Qelt/Kelt and Nahal ("stream bed") Prat run east from Jerusalem to Jericho, where the Nahal Prat runs into the Jordan River. The Nahal Prat is supplied by three springs. Shepherds with their sheep can be seen along the Wadi Kelt/Qelt. Hasmonean period aqueducts enabled cultivation of figs, dates, pomegranates, and citrus up through the early Arab period. Palaces, settlements, monasteries, and an Israelite Iron Age ruin dating to the time of the Israelite kings are also found in the valley.
• Shalom Israel Tours - In the En Prat nature reserve is the Firan Monastery, which is surrounded by cultivated terraces, orchards, and cisterns.
• See the Holy Land - The Wadi Qelt's 35 km winding course provided the route for a large section of a Roman roadway running from Jerusalem to Jericho. St. George's Monastery built in the 5th century into the cliff face of the Wadi Qelt is known for hospitality.

Monastery of St. George built into the cliff face of the Wadi Kelt (See the Holy Land)

 
 . . . Part B to follow.

Under the watch of a HOLY God.

"Achan . . . Achan . . . why?"

Upon the fall of Jericho, the Sons of Israel faced the Canaanite city of Ai. They were confident after seeing the wall of Jericho collapse. God had fought for them. So they set out for Ai with only a partial contingent of their fighting force as the men of Ai were "few" in number. But . . . Israel was repelled and fled from the men of Ai.

Achan, of the tribe of Judah, had taken spoil from the ruins of Jericho. God had placed all Jericho under "ban", which meant it belonged to Him. No one in Israel was to seize spoil for themselves. All gold, silver, bronze, and iron were to be brought into the Lord's treasury for use in service of the Lord. But when Achan saw gold, silver, and a fine mantle in the ruins of Jericho, he coveted them and took these things for himself.

Seeing Achan's deed, God retracted His [protecting] presence from Israel. Therefore, Israel fled and fell before Ai. Joshua cried out to God in dismay--and learned of Achan's disobediance. Achan had taken what belonged to the Lord. God's [protection] would not rest on Israel while Achan remained within the camp. Only when death and fire took Achan, his complicit household, and all his belongings did God restore His [protecting] presence to Israel. With God's help, Israel defeated Ai.

Thus runs the story of Achan and Ai. To understand, one must investigate the story's context within the whole of Scripture. Was the story history, fiction, or a combination of the two?

"Holy, Holy, Holy" as sung by Audrey Assad

Old Testament references to Achan and Ai (no New Testament references found):

• Joshua 7:1-11, "But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.
        Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, 'Go up and spy out the land.' So the men went up and spied out Ai. They returned to Joshua and said to him, 'Do not let all the people go up; only about two or three thousand men need go up to Ai; do not make all the people toil up there, for they are few.' So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they fled from the men of Ai . . .
        Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. Joshua said, 'Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us?' . . .
        So the LORD said to Joshua, 'Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived.'"
• Achan - a historical man
• Why name the father, grandfather, great grandfather, and Israelite tribe of an imaginary man?
• What benefit is there in writing a story about an imaginary man that makes your people look frail in battle? What people would do this?
• What benefit is there in writing a story about an imaginary man that makes your national leader look weak?
• Ai - a historical city
• Why specify the location of Ai if Ai was an imaginary city?
• Why detail the words of the Israelite spies if they were spying out an imaginary Ai?
• Why number the Israelite soldiers who fought Ai if Ai was imaginary?
• Joshua 22:16-25, "Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, 'What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following the LORD this day, by building yourselves an altar, to rebel against the LORD this day?' . . . do not rebel against the LORD, or rebel against us by building an altar for yourselves, besides the altar of the LORD our God. Did not Achan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in the things under the ban, and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.'
        Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the families of Israel. 'The Mighty One, God, the LORD, the Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows, and may Israel itself know . . . truly we have done this out of concern, for a reason, saying, "In time to come your sons may say to our sons, 'What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no portion in the LORD.' So your sons may make our sons stop fearing the LORD."'"
• Achan - a historical man
• How can real tribes be rebellious like an imaginary Achan?
• Why name the obscure ancestor of an imaginary Achan?
• Why would Israel heed the death toll of an imaginary Achan's rebellion?
• Why fear God as a God who "knows" in the context of an imaginary Achan?
• I Chronicles 2:1-8, "These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
        The sons of Judah were Er, Onan and Shelah; these three were born to him by Bath-shua the Canaanitess. And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put him to death. Tamar his daughter-in-law bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.
        The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. The sons of Zerah were Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol and Dara; five of them in all. The son of Carmi was Achar, the troubler of Israel, who violated the ban. The son of Ethan was Azariah."
• Achan - a historical man
• Why name the father of an imaginary Achan?
• Why list an imaginary Achan in the real genealogies of Israel?
• Why name an imaginary Achan to be a descendant of the real tribe of Judah?
• Why name an imaginary "troubler of Israel" in the royal tribe of David and Christ? How would this bring honor to that tribe?
• Joshua 9:1-6, "Now it came about when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowland and on all the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, heard of it, that they gathered themselves together with one accord to fight with Joshua and with Israel. When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they also acted craftily and set out as envoys, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins worn-out and torn and mended, and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled. They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, 'We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us.'"
• Ai - a historical city
• How could the fate of an imaginary Ai spread throughout a real geographical land?
• Why name all the peoples that heard of the fate of an imaginary Ai?
• Why associate an imaginary Ai with a real Jericho?
• How could an imaginary Gibeon hear the fate of a real Jericho?
• What did the real Gibeonites have to fear from the fate of an imaginary Ai?
• Wouldn't it be deceitful to write of the real leader Joshua overthrowing an imaginary Ai? How would such deceit prove helpful to a nation claiming to serve the one true God?
• Joshua 10:1-5, "Now it came about when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai, and had utterly destroyed it (just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king), and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were within their land, that he feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty. Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron and to Piram king of Jarmuth and to Japhia king of Lachish and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, 'Come up to me and help me, and let us attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel.' So the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they with all their armies, and camped by Gibeon and fought against it."
• Ai - a historical city
• How could a real Gibeon be greater than an imaginary Ai? How does one compare reality and fiction?
• Why name five Canaanite kings and the cities they ruled unless those kings really lived?
• Why name a Caananite king and the real city of Jerusalem he ruled unless that king really lived?
• How could a real Caananite king hear of the destruction of an imaginary Ai?
• Why would five real Canaanite kings have cause to fear at the fall of an imaginary Ai?
• Joshua 12:7-24, "Now these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the sons of Israel defeated beyond the Jordan toward the west, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon even as far as Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir; and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, on the slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the Negev; the Hittite, the Amorite and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite: the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; the king of Jarmuth, one . . . the king of Dor in the heights of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one; the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings."
• Ai - a historical city
• Why name an imaginary Ai alongside the real ancient cities of Jericho, Jerusalem, and Hebron?
• Why specify "thirty-one" city-state kings defeated by Joshua unless those kings and their cities (including Ai) really existed?
• Why write with geographical detail and drop in the name of an imaginary city Ai?
• Ezra 2:1-29, "Now these are the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city. These came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah.
        The number of the men of the people of Israel: the sons of Parosh, 2,172; the sons of Shephatiah, 372 . . . the men of Bethlehem, 123; the men of Netophah, 56; the men of Anathoth, 128; the sons of Azmaveth, 42; the sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah and Beeroth, 743; the sons of Ramah and Geba, 621; the men of Michmas, 122; the men of Bethel and Ai, 223; the sons of Nebo, 52 . . ."
• Ai - a historical city
• Why name Israelite settlers of an imaginary city Ai as captives of the real Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzer? Why give an enemy king that needless extra credit?
• How could real captives return home to an imaginary city of Ai?
• Why number captives returning to an imaginary city of Ai?
• What detail-oriented historian would reference an imaginary city of Ai?
• If Bethlehem was a real city, why not Ai?

Fighting against the odds--Jericho.

Within literary context, then, the Biblical account supports a historical Joshua. But the account of Joshua makes some pretty big claims on how God fought for Israel as they entered and conquered Canaan. So those historical claims should be backed up by historical facts and traditions, should they not? Oh boy, that's another big endeavor, partly because Scripture basically records how the Israelites left no survivors in the cities they conquered. So unless the Canaanite peoples had time to send pleas for help prior to overthrow by the Israelites, the only surviving verbal testimony would be from the Israelites--and who trusts the conqueror's account of a conquest? Well . . . perhaps there is additional evidence to consider.

"The Battle of Jericho" as sung by the Morman Tabernacle Choir

Facts, traditions, and widespread beliefs regarding Joshua's conquest of Canaan:

• Etymology of "Canaan":
• Dictionary.com - from Hebrew "Kena'an" referring to either the land between the Jordan, the Dead Sea, and the Mediterranean, or referring to a grandson of Noah by the same name.
• Merriam Webster's Dictionary - from Gr. "Kanaan", which comes from Heb. "Kena'an" referring to the ancient land of Phoenicia and Palestine.
• Jewish Virtual Library - "The name Canaan first appears in documents from the 15^th century B.C.E. and was variously written: Akkadian: Kinani (m), Kinaḫḫu / i, etc.; Egyptian: Knʿn·w and P -knʿn; Ugaritic: Knʿny ("a Canaanite"); Phoenician and Hebrew: Knʿn. Most scholars connect the name with the Hurrian term kinaḫḫu meaning (reddish) purple. Support for this is found in the similarity between the Greek Φοῖνιξ meaning reddish purple and Φοινίκη meaning Phoenicia. Those who derive the name from the Semitic root kn' consider it either a name for the conchiferous snail which yielded purple dye, or a term for the western nations, because the sun set in the west (see also Astour 1965). Since purple cloth was the chief export of Phoenicia, the term Canaan also appears in the sense of merchant (Isa. 23:8; Zeph. 1:11; Prov. 31:24; et al) [emphasis added]"
• Isaiah 23:8-12, "Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth? The LORD of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty, to despise all the honored of the earth . . . The LORD has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strongholds. He has said, 'You shall exult no more, O crushed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, pass over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.'"
• Canaanite Giants:
• Anastasi Papyrus - "Amenmope's chariot is on a narrow mountain pass above a ravine in which some four or five cubit (seven foot) tall Shashu are lurking. The road is rough and tangled with vegetation and the Shashu look dangerous and fierce. Amenmope wrecks his rig and has to cut it loose with a knife from some trees it is tangled up in."
• Wisdom Library - The Egyptian Execration texts tells of "Iy aneq"/"Iy'anaq", which appear to correspond to the Biblical Anakim. The Egyptian texts place curses on these Iy aneq and refer to Ashdod as the "city of the giants"

  
                        From Wikipedia "Shasu" article 

• Shasu - An Egyptian carving of Egyptians beating two Shasu spies depicts the Shasu spies as being greater in stature than the Egyptians. While pharaohs were depicted as greater in stature than their "inferior" subjects (History World), it is odd that enemy foreigners would be shown as greater in stature than Egyptians, unless this reflected reality.
• ABC.net - Ancient Egyptians had an average height of 5.1 ft, which would have been short compared to the 7 ft tall Shashu.
• Jewish Encyclopedia - Jewish people on average are ~5.3 ft in height, which would have been short compared to "short giants" of just 7 ft like the Canaanite Shashu described by the Egyptians.
• Deuteronomy 9:1-3, "[Moses instructing the Israelites about to cross the Jordan into Canaan] 'Hear, O Israel! You are crossing over the Jordan today to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, great cities fortified to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know and of whom you have heard it said, "Who can stand before the sons of Anak?" Know therefore today that it is the LORD your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, so that you may drive them out and destroy them quickly, just as the LORD has spoken to you.'"
• Conquest of Jericho:

• Jewish Virtual Library - summary of the history of Jericho
• Jewish Magazine - history of Jericho from a Jewish perspective.
• UNESCO World Heritage Site - Tel e-Sultan, or ancient Jericho, is considered both the oldest and the lowest lying town on Earth, resting at 258 m below sea level. In the Middle Bronze Age around 1580 B.C., the Canaanite city-state of Tel e-Sultan and its mud-brick wall at that time were violently destroyed by fire. Evidence of nomadic invasion also exists, but according to the UNESCO summary the nomadic invasion dates one to two centuries prior to the fire. After the fire, Tel e-Sultan remained largely unsettled during the Late Bronze Age, being instead resettled in the later Iron Age.
• Creation.com - article which contains many quotes from archaeologists Garstang, Kenyon, and Pritchard from their excavations at ancient Jericho and Gibeon. Dates given are as follows: Early Bronze Age - third millenium B.C., Middle Bronze Age - 2000-1550 B.C., and Late Bronze Age - 1550-1200 B.C. I do not agree with the dating conclusion regarding the time of Joshua in this article, but the quotes from archaeologists are quite interesting:
• "'Traces of intense fire are plain to see, including reddened masses of brick, cracked stones, charred timber and ashes. Houses alongside the wall were found burnt to the ground, their roofs fallen upon the domestic pottery within'" (Garstang)
• "'On a brick ledge in a corner of this room we found the family provision of dates, barley, oats, olives, an onion and peppercorns, all charred but unmistakable; while a little store of bread, together with a quantity of unbaked dough which had been laid aside to serve as leaven for the morrow’s baking, told plainly the same tale of a people cut off in full activity.'" (Garstang)
• "'One gets used to burnt layers in excavations of this kind, for it was the usual fate of houses and cities to perish by fire; but this was no ordinary burning. The layer of ashes was so thick and the signs of intense heat so vivid, that it gave the impression of having been contrived, that fuel had been added to the fire.'" (Garstang)
• "We have nowhere been able to prove the survival of the walls of the Late Bronze Age, that is to say, of the period of Joshua. This is at variance with Professor Garstang’s conclusions. He ascribed two of the lines of walls which encircle the summit to the Late Bronze Age. But everywhere that we examined them it was clear that they must belong to the Early Bronze.' Kenyon concluded that an earthquake had brought the walls down. 'The face of the wall can be seen fallen outwards from the stone foundations.'" (Kenyon)
• "'As our detailed knowledge of Palestinian archaeology has gradually increased over the past thirty years or so, it has become apparent that there was a very sharp break between the Early Bronze Age of the third millenium and the Middle Bronze Age of the first half of the second. Common everyday pots are the most sensitive barometer of a drastic change in population. There is virtually no continuity in pottery between the two periods'" (Kenyon)
• "'These relics of the Middle Bronze I people seem to indicate a fresh migration into the town of a nomadic people who brought with them an entirely new tradition in pottery forms and new customs in burial practices. They may have come into Palestine from the desert at the crossing of the Jordan near Jericho and may then have pushed on to settle eventually at places such as Gibeon, Tell el-Ajjul and Lachish, where tombs of this distinctive type have been found.'" (Pritchard)
• Concerning the invading "nomads": "'Since there is this interval before houses appear, they must have lived in tents or very slight structures, thus providing clear evidence of their nomadic origin. Though they lived on the tell [Tel e-Sultan], they were not really interested in it as a town. Their occupation spread right down the slopes, and they never built themselves a town wall.'" (Kenyon)
• New York Times - Archaeologist Dr. Bryant Wood dated this great burning of Jericho to the Late Bronze Age, or ~1400 BC, contradicting Kathleen Kenyon's earlier work.
• "A study of ceramic remnants, royal scarabs, carbon-14 dating, seismic activity in the region and even some ruins of tumbled walls produced what is being called impressive evidence that the fortified city was destroyed in the Late Bronze Age, about 1400 B.C. . . . The prevailing view among scholars has been that the city was destroyed some 150 years earlier . . . [as in the UNESCO write-up]"
• "A three-foot layer of ash, containing many pottery fragments and mud bricks from a wall, was found at the site, well preserved because it was sealed by sediments that accumulated over the years the destroyed city lay unoccupied. The charred fragments have been dated at 1410 B.C., plus or minus 40 years [So taking 1410 B.C. compared to UNESCO's 1580 B.C. the median date is ~1495 B.C.--this approximation compares pretty well with early historians dating of the Exodus at 1550 B.C. as related in my blog post "A Nation Redeemed. (Part I)" on July 10th, 2016, remembering that the Exodus was followed by 40 years wandering in the wilderness]. Finally, several Egyptian scarabs, or amulets, found in tombs at Jericho had inscriptions placing them in the same period."
• "'The presence of these grain stores in the destroyed city is entirely consistent with the biblical account,' Dr. Wood wrote. 'The city did not fall as a result of a starvation siege, as was so common in ancient times. Instead, the Bible tells us Jericho was destroyed after but seven days.'"
• Joshua 6:1-5, "Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. The LORD said to Joshua, 'See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors . . . on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead."
• Joshua 6:16-21, "Joshua said to the people, 'Shout! For the LORD has given you the city. The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the LORD; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent' . . . and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city. They utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.."
• Joshua 6:26-27, "Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, 'Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates.' So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land."
• Joshua 8:1-28, "Now the LORD said to Joshua, 'Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.' So Joshua rose with all the people of war to go up to Ai . . . Israel took only the cattle and the spoil of that city as plunder for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua. So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation until this day."
• To be continued . . .

 

A Lesson in Belief.

Moving forward from Moses, Aaron, the Tabernacle of Testimony, and the Ark of the Covenant, we encounter Joshua. You probably hear the name of Joshua and think, "the Battle of Jericho". From a historical standpoint, that battle would have been a test of belief indeed. So how contextually supported is the story of Jericho and the life of Joshua in Scripture?

"I Lift My Hands" by Chris Tomlin

Old Testament References to Joshua:

• Numbers 14:36-38, "The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 'How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me?' . . . 'Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun' . . . 'Your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness. According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. I, the LORD, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed, and there they will die.' As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the LORD. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would God speak to historical Moses and Aaron about a merely imaginary Joshua?
• Why mention the father of a merely figurative Joshua?
• Why would it be written in Scripture that the Lord swore He would punish Israel for forty years for their guilt, if the story of the spies, including Joshua, was fake?
• Where in Scripture do you find an imaginary plague from the Lord? If the plague was real, must not Joshua have been a real (not merely figurative) Israelite?
• Deut. 31:14-26, "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.' So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. The LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent. The LORD said to Moses, 'Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land' . . . 'Now therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel' . . . So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the sons of Israel. Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, 'Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you.' It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 'Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark . . . '"
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would the Lord speak to a historical Moses just before his death about an imaginary Joshua succeeding him?
• Where in Scripture does the Lord commission an imaginary man for leadership?
• Why would an imaginary Joshua be recorded in the real law of Moses, which was kept beside the real Ark of the Covenant?
• How could a merely imaginary man lead the real sons of Israel into a new land?
• Joshua 6:26-27, "Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, 'Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates.' So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Where in Scripture are curses merely imaginary?
• Why associate a specific city with an imaginary curse?
• If the curse in Joshua 6 was real, how could Joshua be merely figurative?
• Joshua 19:49-50, "When they finished apportioning the land for inheritance by its borders, the sons of Israel gave an inheritance in their midst to Joshua the son of Nun. In accordance with the command of the LORD they gave him the city for which he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. So he built the city and settled in it."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why write of the real sons of Israel apportioning land to a merely imaginary Joshua?
• Why specify the city given to Joshua and its location in the territory of Ephraim, if Joshua was a simply figurative character?
• Judges 2:6-10, "When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land. The people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel. Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of one hundred and ten. And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why write of "all the days of Joshua", if Joshua never lived?
• Why reference "the elders who survived Joshua", if Joshua never lived?
• Why name Joshua as the "servant of the Lord", if he was an imaginary character who never actually served the Lord?
• Why specify the age of Joshua at his death if he never lived?
• Why specify the burial place of an imaginary man?
• I Kings 16:33-34, "Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why specify who rebuilt Jericho and who died, if the curse wasn't real?
• Why write of how the curse of a merely figurative man came to pass?
• How would the "word of the Lord" be given through an imaginary man?
• I Chron. 7:20-27, "The sons of Ephraim were Shuthelah and Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take their livestock. Their father Ephraim mourned many days, and his relatives came to comfort him. Then he went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and he named him Beriah, because misfortune had come upon his house. His daughter was Sheerah, who built lower and upper Beth-horon . . . Elishama his son, Non his son and Joshua his son. Their possessions and settlements were Bethel with its towns, and to the east Naaran, and to the west Gezer with its towns, and Shechem with its towns as far as Ayyah with its towns, and along the borders of the sons of Manasseh, Beth-shean with its towns, Taanach with its towns, Megiddo with its towns, Dor with its towns. In these lived the sons of Joseph the son of Israel."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why specify legacies of people in a genealogy attributed to the tribe of Ephraim, if these people never lived?
• Why include a merely figurative Joshua in the genealogy of the real tribe of Ephraim?

New Testament References to Joshua:

• Acts 7:44-47, "The high priest said, 'Are these things so?' And he [Stephen] said, 'Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran' . . . 'Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen. And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.'"
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would Stephen defend himself before the antagonistic high priest by referencing a figurative character? How would this be a good defense for Stephen?
• Why would Stephen insert an imaginary character into a story including the historical Abraham and Moses?
• Why would Stephen bring a merely imaginary Joshua into the story of how their real "God drove out" the Canaanite nations before them? Wouldn't referencing an imaginary character in this story be considered blasphemous by the high priest?
• Hebrews 3:16-4:11, "For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief . . . For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: 'AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS'; and again in this passage, 'THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.' Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, 'Today,' saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,
              'TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,
              DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.'
  For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would an imaginary Joshua be referenced in writing of the yet observed (at least by Jews) seventh day sabbath and the final Sabbath rest promised to believers?
• Why at all consider whether Joshua gave the sons of Israel true rest, if Joshua never led Israel into a land of their own?
• Why write of some "following the same example of disobedience", if the story of Joshua being exempted from Israel's punishment of forty years' wandering in the wilderness was merely figurative and not a real example from which to learn?

Covenant Testimony (Part II)

How do children learn about the lives of their parents or grandparents? Usually, this is passed down by word of mouth. Children generally do not have reason to doubt what their parents tell them about their lives or their grandparents' lives. Parents' stories become that of their children and are held trustworthy without need for secondary affirmation. This is oral tradition, and is one of the means by which the stories of the Old Testament were handed down for generations to come that they might know the works of the Lord:

Psalm 78:1-8, "A Maskil of Asaph. 

        Listen, O my people, to my instruction;
            Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

      I will open my mouth in a parable;
            I will utter dark sayings of old,

      Which we have heard and known,
            And our fathers have told us.

      We will not conceal them from their children,
            But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
            And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

      For He established a testimony in Jacob
            And appointed a law in Israel,
            Which He commanded our fathers
            That they should teach them to their children,

      That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born,
            That they may arise and tell them to their children,

      That they should put their confidence in God
            And not forget the works of God,
            But keep His commandments,

      And not be like their fathers,
            A stubborn and rebellious generation,
            A generation that did not prepare its heart
            And whose spirit was not faithful to God
            [continues on with the works of God toward early Israel]."

Facts, customs, and widespread beliefs regarding the Ark of the Covenant and thereby Israel's wilderness wandering:

• Wikipedia - general description of the ark of the covenant
• National Geographic - overview of history and theorized discoveries
• Jewish Encyclopedia - overview, biblical references, and non-biblical references

• Jordan River Crossing with Ark
• Joshua 4:1-9, "Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, and command them, saying, "Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight."' So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; and Joshua said to them, 'Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel . . . Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day . . . Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. He said to the sons of Israel, 'When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, "What are these stones?" then you shall inform your children, saying, "Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground." For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.'"
• Gilgal Education Center - References the above Joshua passage where God tells Joshua that He dried up the Jordan so that "all the peoples of the earth" might know the power of the Lord.
• Jewish Virtual Library - Notes various Scripture references to this Gilgal camp of Joshua and the twelve tribes.
• Science Daily - Five stone-ringed camp-sites in the Jordan river valley have been identified by Prof. Adam Zertal, which he identifies with various references to Gilgal in Scripture. According to Prof. Zertal, "Gilgal" was a type of foot-shaped (symbolic of possession of the land on which they treaded) campsite for the early Israelites.
• General Source - Description of the mosaic Madaba map and its proven accuracy.
• Madaba Map, and Galgala or the Twelve Stones - Shows the label and symbol for Galgala from the Madaba Map and ties in the Old Testament account of the tribes crossing the Jordan and camping at Gilgal for circumcision and Passover, as their first campsite across the Jordan and thereby where they would have placed the twelve stones. An image of the corresponding map Section 2 is linked here, showing Galgala.
• Science Daily - Notes that the Madaba Map portrays a site labeled Dodekaliton, meaning "twelve stones", lying adjacent to Galgala outside of Jericho in the Jordan River valley. This is significant. But the accompanying reinterpretation of Galgala/Gilgal with a quarry cave and the stones with excavated rock do not agree with the Scripture narrative of the Jordan River crossing.

• Philistine Capture of the Ark and its Return to Israel
• I Samuel 5:1-11, "So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them and said, 'What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?' And they said, 'Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.' And they brought the ark of the God of Israel around. After they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city with very great confusion; and He smote the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron the Ekronites cried out, saying, 'They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to us, to kill us and our people.' They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, 'Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people.' For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy there." 
  
• I Samuel 6:13-19, "Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark and were glad to see it . . . The Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the box that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the LORD. When the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day.       These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a guilt offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages. The large stone on which they set the ark of the LORD is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.
        He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter."
• Times of Israel - Jewish people yet remember Tel Beit Shemesh as the Biblical Beth-shemesh to which the Ark of the Covenant was returned by the Philistines. The site today has sculptured iron and rock memorials which tell the story. 
• Archaeological Institute of America - Tel Beth Shemesh is a site of current archaeological excavation and is considered a geological intersection point for the Israelite, Philistine, and Canaanite civilizations during the Late Bronze and Iron ages (1550-540 B.C.).
• Some archaeology - Tel Beth-Shemesh is a 7-acre mound that overlooks the Sorek Valley. The mound has been identified based on the preserved Arab name of a nearby town, Byzantine sources, and the Biblical text's description of the mound's geography. Archaeology dating to the period of the Judges reveals influence of Israelite presence, as pig bones are entirely absent among the animal remains unearthed.
• I Samuel 7:1-2, "And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the LORD and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD."
• Shmunis Family Excavations - Archeologists identify a mound 12 km west of Jerusalem, named Deir el-Azar in Arabic, with ancient Kiriath-jearim. The Arabic name appears to derive from the name of Eleazar, son of Abinadab, who kept watch over the ark when it rested at Kiriath-jearim (I Samuel 7:1). The monastery of the Ark of the Covenant is found at Kiriath-jearim, along with remains of a Byzantine-era church, uncovered in the early 20th century, which likely commemorates the ark tradition.
• Times of Israel - Modern Jewish news site also identifies Old Testament Kiriath-jearim with the hill of the monestary Deir el-Azar, named in English "Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant", resting atop a prior Byzantine structure located 7 miles west of Jerusalem. According to Jewish interpretation of Scripture, the Ark of the Covenant was portrayed to have been located at Kiriath Jearim for 20 years following its return from Philistine capture.
• Find a Dig - The site of Kiriath-jearim offers a expansive view of the Jerusalem skyline in the east and the Mediterranean in the west. The site houses the Monastery of the Ark of the Covenant, which is also known as Notre Dame de l’Ache d’Alliance.

• Modern Tradition on the Ark Outside of Israel
• II Chronicles 35:1-3, "Then Josiah celebrated the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover animals on the fourteenth day of the first month. He set the priests in their offices and encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD. He also said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the LORD, 'Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; it will be a burden on your shoulders no longer. Now serve the LORD your God and His people Israel.'"
• Jeremiah 3:14-18, "'Return, O faithless sons,' declares the LORD;
              'For I am a master to you,
              And I will take you one from a city and two from a family,
              And I will bring you to Zion.'
'Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding. It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,' declares the LORD, 'they will no longer say, "The ark of the covenant of the LORD." And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. At that time they will call Jerusalem "The Throne of the LORD," and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.'"
• Josephus' War of the Jews, Book 5, Chap. 5, Par. 5, " . . . [description of the Temple at the time of Roman conquest of Jerusalem] Now the seven lamps signified the seven planets; for so many there were springing out of the candlestick. Now the twelve loaves that were upon the table signified the circle of the zodiac and the year; but the altar of incense, by its thirteen kinds of sweet-smelling spices with which the sea replenished it, signified that God is the possessor of all things that are both in the uninhabitable and habitable parts of the earth, and that they are all to be dedicated to his use. But the inmost part of the temple of all was of twenty cubits. This was also separated from the outer part by a veil. In this there was nothing at all. It was inaccessible and inviolable, and not to be seen by any; and was called the Holy of Holies. Now, about the sides of the lower part of the temple . . . "
• CNN - The Ethiopian Orthodox Christians yearly celebrate a festival called Timket, in which models of the Ark of the Covenant, called a Tabot, are brought out of the churches and carried through their towns. Ethiopia is considered to be the Old Testament kingdom of Sheba, and is held by some to hide the Ark of the Covenant.
• General Source - The Ethiopian tabots which are brought out from the churches on the day of the Feast of Timket, corresponding to Epiphany, are always hidden from public view by ornate coverings. The sides of the tabot are square, generally 6 in. x 6 in. During Timket, a priest carries the covered tabot on his head while the worshipers and procession accompany with cries of joy and liturgical dancing. This procession appears similar to the bringing of the Ark into Jerusalem during the time of King David (II Samuel 6:12-19).
• Ethiopian Tourist Site - Affirms the festival of Timket, and notes that the procession with the tabot replicas of the Ark ends with baptism by the priests sprinkling blessed water on the worshipers. This is done to remember Christ's baptism by John the Baptist. The festival of Timket with the carrying of the tabot dates back to the time of Ethiopian Emperor Gebre Meskel, who ruled in Ethiopian calandar years from 515 to 529 (or AD ~530)
• Sacred Sites - St. Mary of Zion Church in Ethiopia claims to house the Ark of the Covenant.Ethiopia, also named Abyssinia, is rooted in the kingdom of Axum which existed from ~150 B.C. to ~600 A.D. The Axumite rulers had commercial and diplomatic contact with Persians, Byzantines, Greeks, and Egyptians. The Axumite kingdom archeology boasts the worlds tallest obelisks or stelae, cut from single blocks of black granite. The tallest obelisk weighed 5 tons and was 33.3 m tall. Ethiopian legend says that the Queen of Sheba from Ethiopia [see II Chronicles 9:1-12 for reference to Solomon and the Queen of Sheba] bore a son to King Solomon of Israel. This son, named Menelik, later came to visit Israel and return after a time back to Ethiopia after facing jealousy from the Israelite elders. The legend says that Solomon commanded the elders first-born sons to journey back to Ethiopia with Menelik. One of these was the son of Zadok the High Priest, Azarius, who is said to have secretly taken the Ark with him [note that tradition of a removal of the Ark from Israel during the days of Solomon is not in agreement is the II Chronicles 35:1-3 passage above, but the story does affirm a physical Ark], revealing the theft to Menelik only once distant from Jerusalem. Since the theft had succeeded without harm befalling the departing group, Menelik judged they must have God's blessing.
• Ethiopian Jews - Known as Beta Israel, the Ethiopian Jews hold to traditions saying that their ancestors came to Ethiopia in company with Menelik, considered the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, when he returned to Ethiopia from Israel. Tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews were brought to modern-day Israel during Operation Moses and Operation Solomon.